Release date

3rd January 2014

Running Time

146 minutes

Director

Justin Chadwick

Genre

Drama

Starring

Naomie Harris, Idris Elba, Tony Kgoroge

Idris Elba stars in an epic biopic of South Africa's iconic first democratically elected President.
Born and raised in a remote South African village, the youthful Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba) is not the global hero we know today. He's a revolutionary activist whose struggle against his country's brutal, racist apartheid regime makes him public enemy number one. Along the way, he falls for and marries beautiful social worker Winnie (Naomie Harris). In 1962, he's convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. Mandela serves 27 years in prison, initially at the notorious Robben Island jail. Made with the full support of Nelson Mandela himself, this revelatory biopic charts the lifelong struggle for freedom that eventually saw him triumphantly elected as South Africa's first black president. It has been adapted from Mandela's autobiography by 'Gladiator' writer William Nicholson. British star Idris Elba gives a towering performance in the title role.